Cross Road
by Rita Arabella Black
Summary: Charlie Weasley's back at the American Dragon Preserve. Someone is killing off the dragons and Charlie's determined to stop them.
1. Chapter 1

_Based on characters created by J. K. Rowling_

Cross Road

Charlie Weasley was back to work at the American Dragon Preserve by September first. He had recently returned from the World Quidditch Cup. Charlie was the seeker for the Flying American Red Dragons and they had defeated the Australian team to become world Quidditch champions. He had taken a longer vacation than planned, because he spent an extra week in Hamilton, Ontario with his new girlfriend, Minerva Kingsley. She was the sister of his best friend from Quidditch, Jordan Kingsley. Jordan and Charlie's other best friend, Joanna, who happened to be Jordan's wife, also a Quidditch player for the American Red Dragons, introduced them.

Charlie wasn't used to having a girlfriend. He told her that made a lousy boyfriend, and that was true. He always cheated; forgot important dates and his work always came first. He figured he'd have less opportunity to cheat while he lived in the Chihuahuan Desert, so he was optimistic that she would put up with his bull shit longer than most of the women he went out with.

There had been a couple of changes made to the operations at the preserve due to the increase muggle sightings and gunshot injuries to the dragons. There had been an actual photograph taken of an injured Flying Demon dragon being rescued by Mike and Charlie by a muggle using her cell phone and the photo had gotten on the Internet and in the tabloids. While the muggle who had taken the photo had been given a memory charm so she had no idea that she had even taken the picture, there was evidence that dragons really did exist and the muggle tabloid were paying thousands of muggle dollars for more proof. The tabloids were also interested in identifying the two grainy figures in the photo that happened to be Mike and Charlie. Fortunately, the picture didn't offer any significant indication exactly where the photograph was taken. Muggles were started to narrow the possible locations, and it was pretty obvious that the desert was the best location for a dragon (or _whatever_ it was).

The watches had been stepped up and there were now three keepers patrolling at every shift instead of just one. Charlie was on night duty with Mike and the intern Genevieve. Mike would have rather taken days shift because he had a wife and two children and wanted to spend evenings with them. Mike's wife was a muggle, but his two children were both wizards, which was causing some problems at home.

Charlie liked the intern Genevieve. Of the three remaining interns, Genevieve was the only one who seemed to love magical creatures as much as Charlie did. She had the ideal temperament for a keeper, and she was very good at magic. Most American witches weren't necessarily very skilled in common spells and potion-making. They tended to rely on muggle conveniences.

Genevieve had graduated from Salem School for Young Witches and Wizards in Salem, Massachusetts, and went on to advance schooling in the Care and Healing of Magical Creatures. She hoped to get a full time job with the preserve in America or work at the Romanian facility where Charlie had interned. She had never been to Romania but had read about it in school.

The desert was alive at night with magical creatures. The dragons, not so much because of their cold-blooded nature, but giant arachnids scurried across the desert floor, looking for prey. The keepers at the preserve were forever rescuing hapless muggles who had gotten tangled in one of the 10 foot webs after wandering off the road to take a piss. The spiders grew to the size of small muggle automobiles, and their favorite food seemed to be _muggles boracho_.

Winged horses were another of the magical creatures that came out in the evening. The herd flew at sunset, and Charlie had only seen them one time. They made a beautiful, almost mystical sight; their white mane glowing orange-red from sun's waning glow. When they flew at night, they glowed from the light of the moon.

Once, several thousand millennia ago, the desert was the bottom of a vast ocean, which was the home of a number of magical sea creatures. One species of the creatures remained, evolving into an animal that was dormant until the desert rains came. The creatures appeared during the rain and frolicked like mischievous children. They were about 18 inches tall, long sleek bodies, and tuffs that looked like hair that stood up into a point. They resembled pixies, and had the unfortunate habit of dancing on the wet pavement of the muggle highway. While not usually hit by the on-coming cars, they were the cause of many accidents on the road. Muggles would see the playful little creatures in the slick roads, hit their brakes to avoid hitting them, skidding all over the roads, often running off a cliff. Charlie suspected that the little buggers actually enjoyed watching the cars skid all over the road and purposefully did their dance to cause as much damage as possible.

Then there were the spirits that walked the desert in the moon light. They weren't ghosts, but muggles believed them to be. They were never human and never alive but they took the form of ghostly sirens. They looked like beautiful women with long flowing hair and were dressed in white. Their pale bodies were iridescent and like the sirens of ancient lore, sang a mournful song. There were probably a half dozen of the sirens, but they always walked alone, usually following muggle roads.

One of the most active non-magical creatures was, of course, muggles. They usually drove out past the highway to drink, do drugs, or just for sex. Occasionally, muggles would try to dump their large appliances or furniture, even cars in the desert, but they were always stopped, jinxed with a very potent memory altering spell, and sent on their way with a vowed commitment not to dump garbage in the desert. Sometimes, members of various cults would come to the desert in large groups to dance naked around a huge bonfire or in the light of a full moon. The naked dancers usually ended up having sex, which Charlie figured was the point anyway.

There were always muggles with guns driving into the desert looking to shoot up a couple hundred rounds into the air, into the dunes, and into plants. Charlie was accidently shot in the upper chest by a muggle once. Shooters were the most common reason muggles showed up in the desert, but they were more likely to show up during the day, not at night.

There had been two incidents so far of dragons being shot. Charlie and Mike rescued the first one. It was a Flying Demon and had been shot at close range by a rifle using high caliber, armor piercing bullets. The dragon had survived, but the second one wasn't so lucky. A verdemalo was killed two weeks before Charlie returned from Quidditch. It was shot multiple times, again at close range, and it died before the keepers could get it to the infirmary.

So far the evening was quiet, but it was a weekend, and there was usually a lot of muggle activity. Mike was extremely quiet. He never talked much anyway, but he was reluctant to join in on their conversation and did not initiate any discussions.

Around three in the morning, the team spotted a car driving off the high way into preserve property. They hung back just in case the car was just going to turn around, but it pulled up and parked. The three of them surrounded the car, Mike stood in front of the car holding a very frightening looking rifle. He was the only one on the preserve that carried a muggle firearm, and that was mostly for show. His wand could do more damage faster than the firearm, but muggles didn't seem to be intimidated by short, polished sticks being waved around. Of course, once the muggles saw lights and stars shooting out from the end of the wands, they were usually impressed for the split second before their memories were erased.

Charlie knocked on the driver's side window. There were two couples in the car. The drivers nervously rolled down the window and Charlie caught the smell of alcohol and marijuana; a smell he was very familiar with.

"You need to leave, right now," he said in a very menacing voice. "You're trespassing on private property."

Mike chambered a round in the rifle. The girls in the car screamed. The driver held up his hands. "Wait, wait," he repeated. "We're not doing anything wrong. Please, don't shoot."

Charlie tried to keep the menacing look on his face, but he was amused by their reaction. It was the same every time. Genevieve had never been involved with the confrontation of muggles and wasn't sure what she was supposed to do. She tried to look just as mean as Charlie, but she couldn't quite pull it off. She was less than five feet tall and probably weighed 90 lbs. But she had a purple streak in her hair that made her look scarier than she actually was.

"Get out of here," Charlie repeated. His face was set in an unsettling grimace. He leaned inside the car window. "Now."

"Yes, sir," the boy threw his car into gear. The car started to roll almost before Charlie could get his head out. He nodded to Genevieve, instructing her to produce the memory charm that she had been practicing. She was a little nervous, but managed to pull out her wand and produce the hex. Charlie had stopped the car with a freezing curse, paralyzing the inhabitants of the car, while Genevieve gave them a memory to replace the one they had.

Every few hours, they repeated the routine, until it started to get daylight. They spent as much time on the ground as they did in the air. By the time they were replaced with the morning shift, they had turned away thirty cars and rescued a couple in a car that had run off the road after meeting up with a siren.

Charlie told Mike he would turn in the report; to go on home. Genevieve was started to nod off, so Charlie told her to go to bed. He walked into the front office to turn in his report, and met up with Scott Benson, a fellow keeper. He greeted Charlie grimly.

"We found another one. There were over 100 bullet holes in his body. We never heard the shots being fired. I think he was shot in a totally different area and he flew out of range before he died. It was just a baby." Scott said, wiping his nose. "Who would do such a horrible thing?" He asked rhetorically, shaking his head.

"What kind of dragon?" Charlie asked, dreading the answer.

"It was an American Red." Scott answered.

"Oh, fuck," Charlie said. American Reds were Charlie's favorite dragon. The baby dragons were able to fly and he was the first wizard to observe an American Red in flight. Charlie promised himself that he would find out who was killing the dragons in the preserve and ensure that justice was served.


	2. Chapter 2 The Siren

_Based on characters created by J. K. Rowling_

Chapter 2—The Siren

Charlie walked the short way into the bunk house-dormitory area. He couldn't believe that someone would kill a baby American Red. Okay, so they weren't cute, cuddly, or fluffy, and had a face only a mother could love. They had a tendency to belch noxious gas and flames and their farts could strip a mesquite, but that was no reason to kill them.

The mood in the common room was somber. Apparently everyone had heard about the Red. Charlie grabbed a cup of coffee and a burrito and sat down to read the newspaper, the _American Daily Prophet._ There were a couple of interesting editorials about the need to better educate the future generations on the basics of wizardry and discouraging home schooling (_absolutely!_) and the argument against increasing the Auror Department's budget _(bullshit). _There was nothing in the paper about the dragons, but there was a picture of him and his girlfriend and Jordan and Joanna at a party in Hamilton. He's whispering something in Minerva's ear and she's smiling shyly. Charlie smiled. He thought it was a good picture of her. He decided that he would send the picture to her. She wasn't used to the publicity yet and the picture would probably make her squirm.

Charlie wasn't tired yet; but he had worked 12 hours and needed to get some sleep. One advantage to working nights was that he didn't have time to go out drinking and the bars were probably closed by now. He folded the newspaper and yawned. He should be able to stay up for a few hours, but now he was dead tired and wanted to go to bed.

When he got to his room, Jack was already in bed. He was working nights as well and patrolling in another sector. He was working with their friend Pete and Scott Benson. Jack was reading a daily report and was shaking his head sadly.

"This doesn't make any sense, Charlie." He said, handing the report to him. "There have been no reports of gun shots and you have to know that the shots have got to be loud. We're talking about a 50 caliber muggle rifle. I can't believe no one saw anything."

Charlie perused the report, and then shook his head. "I don't believe it either. What does this tell you? We're assuming that the culprit is a muggle, but is it? Could a muggle go in without being seen or without making any noise?"

Jack thought about that. "That's a good point. But why would a wizard fire a rifle or worse, want to kill a magical creature? That just doesn't make any sense either."

"I'd like to know what will happen to the muggle, if it is one, when they're caught." Charlie said pointedly.

"I'd like to have about 10 minutes alone with the guy." Jack said.

"You and me, both, brother. I'm thinking the _cruciatus curse_ would be most appropriate." Charlie was serious. He couldn't think of another soul that deserved the painful curse more.

Jack yawned. "I'm with you, Charlie." He yawned again. "What's going on with Mike?"

"What do you mean?" Charlie asked. "He seemed okay with me. A little quiet, why?"

"I just heard that he and Lindsey were having problems." Jack said.

Charlie didn't respond. That was not his business. He hated gossip. Charlie was about to tell Jack that it wasn't his business, but he looked over and Jack was already asleep.

Charlie sat up for a couple of hours writing letters, then read some of the mail he'd had piled up for a while. After a while he drifted off to sleep. Charlie's room was magicked to make it appear as if it were night time. It was relatively quiet because the other shift had already left for the day. He would sleep for a couple of hours before heading out to the desert. He wanted to find the spot where the baby Red was found. Surely, if it was a muggle there would be evidence left that may lead to who did it. Jack was partially right, what wizard would use a muggle rifle when he had magic? And why would a wizard destroy a living creature? Wizards weren't killers of any creature; man or beast.

Charlie had to get permission to go to the site due to security reasons, which he did. He promised he wouldn't contaminate the scene. Investigators had been to the scene and looked for evidence, so there was probably nothing left. Still, he wanted to see for himself.

He flew to the area, and was surprised to find several wizards still there. He knew a couple of the people working the scene and wandered over to them. They greeted him when he approached.

"Hi Charlie," said Olivia, one of the investigators. "I thought I'd find you out here sooner or later." She smiled at him.

"We haven't found much, I'm afraid. You'd think they'd be more evidence, but it's pretty clean. I'm thinking the Red was shot somewhere else and then moved here while it was still alive. There were some footprints, and some other stuff, but not much."

"How could a muggle do that without making a hell of a lot of noise and how could they move a seven and a half ton creature?" Charlie asked.

Olivia shrugged. "I don't know."

"You're not ruling out a wizard, are you? He asked.

"We're not ruling out anything at this point." Olivia said candidly. "It is odd, though, isn't it? Everyone's assuming it's a muggle, but at this point, it doesn't make any sense."

"I'm beginning to believe muggles couldn't do this on their own." Charlie said. "Can't you tell if magic's been used?" He had heard that it was possible to detect previous magic activity. He was certain there was some kind of a spell or maybe just a feeling, he didn't know. He wasn't the investigator.

Olivia looked at him oddly. "That sure would help," she said cryptically.

The investigators were generous with the information they had discovered, but he doubted they would tell him everything. He did pick up on the notion that they weren't completely eliminating wizards as possible suspects.

"Was there anything odd about the Red when it was found?" Charlie asked.

"You mean besides being riddled with bullets?" Olivia asked. "The body's being necropsy'd now. I think they're bringing in the best dragon expert in the world, Constantin Dragomir and his team from Romania."

Charlie knew Dragomir; he was the director for the sanctuary in Romania and he used to be his boss. Brilliant, thought Charlie. Charlie found out later that Dragomir's team consisted of Hortensia Zabini, Marguerite Krueger, and Thomas Godfrey. Charlie had worked with Hortensia, and knew that Thomas Godfrey had once worked at the American preserve several years before Charlie.

Charlie went back to the infirmary and tried to get some information, but Padmai Hoerner wasn't on duty, and he wasn't able to find anything out. He'd talk to Padmai later; he was sure she'd tell him more.

Mike came in two hours before he was supposed to go on duty. He told Charlie he had to talk to someone about his schedule. He needed to be home at night or he would find himself kicked out of his house. Charlie hated to lose his partner, but he understood family obligations. He liked Lindsey a lot and hoped they could work out their problems. It must be difficult for a muggle to try to raise two spirited wizard children, especially with Mike gone at night and sleeping most of the day. Once the animal that was killing the dragons was caught, they could return to their normal lives.

When Charlie reported for his shift, Mike was not there. Genevieve greeted Charlie and said it was just the two of them tonight. Another keeper would be available tomorrow to replace Mike. Mike must have convinced the head office that he was serious about changing shifts; Charlie had never seen anyone move that quickly before. He must have threatened to quit or something as drastic.

Charlie and Genevieve replaced the three wizards on duty and began by flying the perimeter. They flew in opposite directions and crossed at the point that the muggle highway crossed the preserve. It was Saturday evening and if last night was bad, tonight was looking to get a lot worse.

By the time darkness fell completely, a strange mystical fog had covered the desert floor. That wasn't a good sign, thought Charlie. There's going to be something eerie goings-on in the desert and he prayed the muggles would stay away.

Charlie landed at a spot near the highway to investigate what looked like an arachnid trying to cross the road. The giant spiders did not need to be out in the open like that; they were a very well kept secret, and if one of them became road kill, that certainly would send the tabloids out to the desert. Using a hover charm, Charlie moved the spider out of the way and set it on the opposite direction.

He was about to mount his broom, when he saw a figure walking toward him. It looked like a woman crying. Oh shit, he thought, as he hid his broom next to a mesquite and started walking toward her.

"Ma'am," he said politely. "Are you all right?"

The woman kept walking toward him, holding out her arms in a pleading motion. As she came closer, Charlie stopped dead in his tracks. It was Diana Gentry, a reporter for a celebrity magazine that he had recruited to write about dark magic in America. But that was impossible. Diana was dead. She had been killed by an evil dark lord by the name of Ares.

"Charlie," she cried out, weeping. "Please help me. Don't let me die. I thought you were going to save me. Why couldn't you save me?" she asked reaching out to him. She suddenly turned away from him and started out away from the highway.

Charlie started following her; but just when he thought he was catching up, she slipped away further. He kept walking, calling to her. Suddenly, he was caught up in the misty fog that surrounded him. He could no longer see her, but she kept calling out for him. Charlie wanted to save her this time. If he got closer he could save her life and she wouldn't be dead. She would forgive him for letting her die.

Out of the mist he watched as the figure came back to him. But when she turned around, it wasn't Diana but a horribly grotesque figure dressed completely in black. It was hooded and Charlie realized that it had vacant eyes and an ugly slash of a mouth and no nose. It was a dementor, or at least the horrible thing reminded him of a dementor. But it wasn't happiness that was been sucked from him; it was life itself. This creature wanted him dead. If he just followed the creature, he could be with Diana and Fred and his friend Tonks. They were waiting for him.

Yes, he thought, it would be good to die. Diana would forgive him for killing her. He felt calm and at peace. He was about to surrender when he heard someone frantically calling his name.

"I have to go," he told the Diana figure. "I can't stay."

"Charlie, you have to stay with me," she implored. It was Diana's voice but it was the ugly creature that was pulling him further into the mist.

He felt something tugged at his cloak behind him, pulling him away from the mist; away from Diana. No, he thought, I want to go, I have to save her.

"Charlie!" Came the voice from behind him. "Come on, Charlie. We have to go. Please," the voice pleaded.

Charlie turned around and saw Genevieve pulling on him.

"Please don't go, Charlie. Come back. I need you." Genevieve pulled with all her might. She was crying, too, but hers were the tears of frustration. Somehow she knew that if he stopped further into the mist, he would be lost forever.

Finally, after one huge tug, she pulled Charlie and he fell on top of her and they both landed on the ground. The mist disappeared, rolling away as if blown by the wind.

It took several seconds before Charlie knew where he was. He was sitting on top of Genevieve who was still holding on to her.

"Fuck me," said Charlie, still a little shaky. He got to his feet and pulled up Genevieve. "So that's what a siren does. Thanks, Genevieve. You saved my life. That was weird." He was shaking and could barely stand.

"Let's get out of here." Genevieve said, helping him steady himself.

"How did you find me?" Charlie asked as they walked toward the highway.

"I was flying and saw you start into the fog."

"Did you see her?" he asked.

She shook her head. "I didn't see anything. But something was pulling you into the fog. I thought that if you went into the fog you'd never come out. I was so scared."

He hugged her. "Thank you. That was very quick thinking on your part. I kept thinking that I wanted to die; I wanted to be with Diana and my brother, Fred. And Tonks." He shivered.

It took him an hour to recover from the siren attack. He was left weak and still had random thoughts of joining his brother and his friends in the afterlife, but the feeling passed.

"Have you ever heard of dementors?" he asked her as they were ready to begin their next pass around the perimeter.

Genevieve thought for a second. "No, I haven't. What did you call them?"

"Dementors, he repeated. " They used to guard Azkaban Prison. They are hooded foul looking creatures that suck all the happiness out of you and then steal your soul. These creatures must be their country cousins."

"I have heard about sirens all my life, but I never knew what they did or why they did it. We've rescued muggles from sirens, but I guess we got to them before they actually started working on them. My brothers used to scare me with them, but I don't think they knew what they really were either."

"Well," said Charlie. "Now we both know. And I sincerely hope I never see one of them again."

Charlie was sure it the rest of the evening was going to get even worse. And he was right. The highway was busy that night. It must have been payday or a holiday because muggles were everywhere. One drunken asshole tried to fight with Charlie when he told him to turn around. He got in one good swing that connected with Charlie's jaw. The punch would have probably knocked the average person to his knees, but Charlie wasn't your average person. He hooked an instinctive counter punch to the man's solar plexus and the man went down hard.

"Sorry about that," Charlie apologized, helping the man to his feet. The man tried to take another swing, but Charlie quickly subdued him with a punch to his nose, breaking it with a sickening crunch.

The woman in the car was giving Genevieve a hard time too, yelling drunkenly about police brutality and other nonsense. Finally, Genevieve stopped being polite and hexed with a silencing spell.

"This creep shouldn't be driving," Genevieve said, finally, after they had gotten them back into their car.

Charlie agreed and placed a protective charm around the car, killed the engine and let them sleep it off. He would release the charm before daylight and they would drive out of the desert confused, but sober.

After the fourth pass, Charlie and Genevieve came across an old van pulled up beside a lone butte. They flew silently and landed about thirty yards away from a huge bon fire. There were about a dozen men and women dancing around the fire. And they were all naked.

Charlie rolled his eyes when he saw them. "Shit, I wish this shift was over."


	3. Chapter 3 The Plan

_Based on characters created by J. K. Rowling_

Chapter 3—The Plan

Charlie was not in any mood to deal with a van load of naked hippies. Genevieve lost her professionalism and couldn't stop giggling. He started to say something to the very stoned, semi-frightened group, but he just shook his head, turned around and walked away. Fuck 'em, the thought.

"You don't think they're dangerous?" Genevieve asked, following along with Charlie.

"Did they look dangerous?" he asked irritably.

"I don't know. Maybe they had guns or something in the van." She shrugged.

"They're _naked_. The kind of weapon needed to stop a dragon couldn't be fired comfortably by naked people. But suit yourself, go check out the van. Maybe you're right. Something's getting past the sentry. Apparate inside, I'll keep them busy out here."

Charlie let the group see Genevieve disappear into thin air. He wanted to scare them. For some reason he wanted them to be frightened. He was getting very angry and he didn't know why. Usually, a van full of naked people, at a minimum, amused him. They were harmless. Now he was just pissed. He held his wand out in front of them.

"Don't any of you mother fuckers move," he threatened menacingly.

The group stood in front of him paralyzed, surprised at his tone.

"I know what you're thinking," he said coldly. "What's he going to do with this little stick? Is that what you're thinking, Mary?" he asked the long-haired shaggy man who was obviously the leader of the group.

The man shook his head, then started nodding his head; confused as to what this red headed man expected him to do.

Charlie waved his wand and a bright blue light erupted from the tip.

"_Yo, Esse, que paso_?" a voice from behind him said.

Charlie turned around and smiled. "Hey, Boo," he said. "Who let you out of jail?"

Everyone called Ricardo Sanchez "Boo" because he had the habit of just popping in without a word, which was pretty unsettling. He had a great sense of humor and he and Charlie were good friends. They spent a lot of time drinking together in their favorite bar in Mexico.

Ricardo walked up to Charlie and shook his hand. He gazed over at the group of muggles huddled in a circle in front of the bon fire.

"Holy shit, man." he said. "You guys ever heard of a razor?" Ricardo was very intimidating figure. He looked like the stereotypical gang banger. His arms, neck and chest were covered in tattoos. He wore a bandana and a lot of leather.

The group became more terrified with Ricardo's presence. Genevieve appeared at the front door of the van. She didn't know Ricardo, but she was definitely interested. Ricardo pulled his sunglasses down to take a look at her. "Hey," he said.

"Find anything?" Charlie asked.

Genevieve shook her head. "There's an awful lot of marijuana, but no weapons."

"This is Ricardo. I'm guessing our new partner." Charlie said.

Ricardo nodded. "Mike and I traded shifts. I got a couple of hour's sleep, which explains why I'm late. Did I miss anything?"

Charlie laughed. "We're about to turn the hippies loose. They're harmless."

"Do you want me to do the memory charm?" Genevieve asked, pulling out her wand.

"Fuck it," Charlie said, shaking his head. "They're too stoned to remember anything. It's all a dream."

The three of them walked away from the group and started back toward the cross road. The rest of the evening was relatively quiet. There traffic wasn't as bad as Charlie thought it would be. Kids mostly. None tried to leave their cars, except to pee or puke. The three watched them but didn't intervene. If they tried to walk around or stray from the highway, they were ready to turn them around. The verdemalos were a little restless, as usual, but the other two species were quiet. There was a random Flying Demon soaring but not too close to the highway.

Ricardo and Charlie had time to talk. Charlie hadn't seen his friend since he returned from the World Cup. Ricardo liked Quidditch, but he was a huge muggle futbol fan, and he favorite team was Mexico. He sometimes partied in muggle bars just to watch the games on Sundays. Charlie didn't care much for futbol because there was no flying involved and only one ball, which you couldn't handle with your hands.

By the end of their shift, the three were ready to go back to their rooms and get some sleep. Charlie had to finish his report, and he knew that the front office would be interested in his encounter with siren. He told Genevieve he needed her to go with him to report the incident. He was sure someone would want to hear her side of the story.

Charlie promised Ricardo he would hook up with him later in the day and go to Mexico for lunch. Ricardo told him he would buy the first round.

Charlie went by the infirmary to talk to Padmai. He was in luck, she was there. She waved him in and it was clear there was something important she wanted to share with him.

"We found something really interesting when we did the necropsy." She told. She quit talking as a couple of wizards walked between them.

Charlie waited until the wizards passed by. "Yes?"

"You know that every dragon is marked with a brand for tracking." Padmai began.

Charlie nodded. "Sure, we do when they're babies. Was the Red marked?"

She nodded nervously. "The numbers were altered on the Red and the second dragon, the verdemalo, but not the first one."

"Altered? How?" He asked.

She showed him a reference photograph that was taken during the necropsies. He could clearly see that the identifying mark had been changed. The branding, which couldn't be seen without a hex, showed up when a wand was passed over it. It was evident that the brands had changed.

"What does this mean?" Charlie asked, looking at the photograph closely.

Padmai took the photograph back and slipped it into the pocket of her robes. "I have no idea," she said honestly. "Can you think of a reason why someone would alter the brands? It makes absolutely no sense, but here you are."

"Did you check any random brands?" he asked.

She shook her head. "I didn't think to." She looked at him carefully. "What are you thinking?"

"What if there are specific targeted dragons? And they're being altered so they can be separated in some way from the others." He shrugged.

"Then that would mean that the targets aren't random? That doesn't make any sense either," she said. "Why target a specific dragon when someone can just take the first one they come to."

"Not necessarily. What if it's a hunt?" He said, thinking out loud. "Suppose someone here is setting up hunts where wizard or muggles get the opportunity to kill a dragon."

"But that's sick," Padmai said, horrified. "And the bodies aren't being taken as trophies."

"Was there anything physically wrong with the Red? Or the verdemalo, for that matter?" Charlie said.

Padmai's eyes got very big. "Yes," she whispered. "The Red had a blood parasite disease, and we detected liver disease in the verdemalo." She covered her hand with her mouth. "It has to be someone working in the infirmary. We wouldn't have known it was the sick ones because—"

Charlie finished with her, "the brands were altered."

The scenario was beginning to sound good, but it still didn't make sense.

"Stop thinking like a wizard," said Charlie, talking to himself. "We can't believe that anyone would kill a dragon because of who we are. That's why everyone said muggle right off. A muggle hunts, not many wizards hunt. Dragons are revered and no wizard would kill one, unless the wizard had no heart. The only thing that can replace a wizard's heart is gold.

"Only the diseased or sick ones are corralled. Maybe the brands are being changed here; then they're released and because they're slower and they make an easy, er, easier target."

Padmai looked worried. She knew something (or thought she knew something) and there was a chance that that something could get her into a lot of trouble. "So what do we do? It could be anyone. If we tell the wrong person what our suspicions are…" but she couldn't finish her thought.

Charlie nodded. "Who do you think it could be from the infirmary?"

She shrugged. "No one."

Charlie agreed. He could not think of a soul who could plot something this bizarre. But the evidence was pretty convincing. Maybe someone just rationalized that the dragons were sick anyway, why not turn a tragedy into a profit?

"Are you going to tell anyone?" he asked her suddenly.

"I told you," she said.

"Right." Charlie sighed. "Why don't we just keep it to ourselves until we've thought more about this. Okay?"

Padmai nodded. She didn't think she could think of anything else.

Charlie walked away to look for Ricardo. He trusted all the keepers, but wasn't so sure about the head office or the wizards who worked in the other departments. He was trying to figure out who would possibly mastermind such a plan and then execute it. He didn't believe that it was only one person inside involved. Of course, the whole scenario was just speculation and he had no proof, except for the altered brands, and he needed more evidence to be able to actually prove any of his theories.

Ricardo was in the head office flirting with one of the witches that was in charge of scheduling. He greeted Charlie with a huge grin.

"I thought you'd abandoned me. You want to get breakfast?" he asked.

Charlie nodded, distracted. "Absolutely. Hey Dora," he greeted the witch.

She smiled shyly.

They turned and walked away. "What is it about you and witches, man? I flirted with her for fifteen minutes and she wouldn't even smile. What's your secret?"

"Scars. Witches dig scars." He deadpanned. "That, and my incredibly sexy red hair."

Ricardo laughed. "Yeah, that must be it."

They apparated to the Mexican wizard cuidad and found a cantina beneath an inn. Charlie had stayed there before and liked the food and the atmosphere.

They sat down and ordered breakfast and coffee. The place was filled with tourists who were having their last vacation of the summer. Charlie got a few second glances from wizards who thought he looked familiar, and recognized him. No one bothered him; but they did stare before he caught their eye and nodded. He was always polite but he was hoping no one would bother him. He wanted to talk to Ricardo about what Padmai told him.

"What's your theory about the dragons being shot?" he asked.

Ricardo put down his fork and leaned in. "I don't think it's muggles," he said.

"Me either," Charlie said. He started telling Ricardo his theory of an inside job, the altered brands and the fact that the two dragons were sick.

"What about the Flying demon?" Ricardo asked.

"She wasn't killed. I think hers was unintentional, but it gave somebody the idea. A muggle took a picture of the dragon and it ended up in those cheesy newspapers. Maybe some wizard saw it and came up with the idea, _hey that would be fun to kill a dangerous creature. Proves I got balls." _

"And if he was rich, he could bribe someone at the preserve." Ricardo finished.

"And blame it on muggles." Charlie said nodding.

"It sounds like a keeper, though, doesn't it? Who else has access to roaming dragons?" Ricardo said, disgusted.

"Got to be more than one inside, though. I can't believe a keeper would do that. Anyone you know that's having problems or needs gold?" He asked.

"Mike Hendershot—" Ricardo began.

"Absolutely not. Mike's one of my best friends. He loves dragons more than me. He'd never do that."

"But Charlie, the dragons were sick. Maybe they were going to die anyway. Maybe that was his rationale. He could make money but not harm the healthy herd." Ricardo nodded as the idea became more of a possibility.

"I can't believe my friend would do that. Besides we partnered together. He wouldn't have time. If we're right about it being more than one person, don't you think he'd tell his partner?" Charlie said. He refused to believe that Mike would even think of such an idea. He didn't need money, and except for problems with Lindsey, that he was sure they'd work out, he wasn't the kind of wizard that would do such a horrific thing.

"Okay, then who?" Ricardo asked. He didn't want to believe it was Mike, but it had to be someone.

"What about the interns?" Charlie said, going over the list of keepers in his mind. "We don't know them very well. I don't think Genevieve would do it, but maybe Geoff Morris."

Ricardo thought about that for a moment, then nodded. "Maybe. Who does he hang out with?"

Charlie shrugged. "I have no idea. I try to stay clear of him. He's lazy. I think he buddies up with some girls in the front office."

"Dora?" He gave Charlie a pointed look. "In scheduling?"

Charlie nodded.

"Maybe you should use some of that red headed charm on her." Ricardo drank the last bit of coffee and asked the server for a bottle of mescal.

"Maybe I should." He agreed. He said pouring himself a glass of the mescal.


	4. Chapter 4 Finding the Culprits

_Based on characters created by J. K. Rowling_

Chapter 4-- Finding the Culprits

Charlie and Boo were busily discussing various scenarios, not paying any attention to the people around the cafe when suddenly they were surprised by a tall man standing behind them.

"Excuse me," he said, clearing his throat.

Charlie looked up surprised. "Yes?"

"Aren't you Charlie Weasley?" he asked, looking at him closely.

Charlie sighed. "Yes."

"I knew it." He leaned in very close. "Don't you think it's a little early to be drinking?" he asked, seriously.

Charlie sat back and looked at him for the longest time. He was gauging what he wanted to say. First of all, Charlie was on his last good nerve. He was getting tired and irritable.

Boo looked Charlie then at the man. He gave him a strange smile. He watched as Charlie balled his hands into fists and relaxed. His face was getting redder and a vein was popping out of his neck. He looked two quick breaths and blew them out.

Pursing his lips, he relaxed and smiled. "Gee thanks, Mum," he said cheerily, then he went back to his drink.

The man stared and blinked, apparently stunned. What had he expected Charlie to do, thank him profusely, throw away his drink and vow never to drink again? Or yell and scream? Curse him?

Charlie ignored him as he stood there.

"I just thought—" he stammered.

"No, you didn't think at all, sir. You wouldn't walk up to any other stranger and offer your sage advice. What makes you think you can do it to me?" Charlie said. "Kindly bugger off."

"You get that a lot?" Boo asked after the man took the hint and went back to his table.

Charlie nodded finishing the liquid in his glass. "All the time."

"You were polite, considering." Boo noted.

He shrugged. "What can you do? I was starting to get pissed, though. I hate it when they just hang around and won't leave. Seriously, I mean, go away. Especially if they offer stupid advice like this prick. Most of the time it isn't too bad. I understand. I'm a fan, too. I went absolutely retarded when I met Viktor Krum."

Boo laughed out loud.

"Well, Boo," Charlie said. "I've got to get some sleep. I'll see what I can do about Dora."

"I know you will charm her _pantalones_ off." He said.

"I don't know about that," Charlie laughed.

"I would if I could, _hermano_. She is fine." Boo said.

Charlie nodded appreciatively. "She is hot." He agreed.

Later, when Charlie returned to his room, he thought about Dora and what he'd need to do about getting "possible" information out of her. He should be able to get away with some innocent flirting, he told himself. But then he thought about Minerva. _Shit_. For probably the first time in his life he thought about another person's feelings. Minerva was vulnerable and more than a touch insecure. Even if he had sex with other women, and there was no way Minerva would ever find out about it unless he was stupid enough to tell her, he didn't want to hurt or disappoint her. The feeling surprised him. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that Minerva had been a virgin when they first made love; he wasn't sure.

Well, he rationalized; a little flirting with Dora won't do any harm. He would do anything to get to the bottom of who killed the dragons. Whatever the sacrifice. That sounded way too pompous, Charlie thought, laughing at himself.

Over the next several weeks, there were no more dragon killings, and Charlie prayed that that had been the end of it. He was able to schmooze up to Dora, and they were starting to get friendlier. Charlie and Ricardo discussed his theory with Jack, Pete, and Mike. Since Mike was working on alternative days with Geoff and the other intern, David, he kept close watch on their activities. While they couldn't completely rule out the possibility that they were somehow involved, they couldn't prove it either.

Halloween was quickly approaching and the head office at the preserve instructed the keeper to be on alert even more. Halloween was a big day for muggles, and if the holiday fell on a weekend, which it happen to fall on a Friday this year, there would be heavy activity.

Charlie was not looking forward to Halloween because he was told he had to work. He had planned to go to Ontario and see his girlfriend. He hadn't seen her in over a month and he was extremely horny. He dreamed about her almost every night and she was usually naked. His very vivid dreams didn't help his mood any. He was starting to get very cranky and snap at people that he was usually very nice to. His close friends understood his self-imposed celibacy, but there weren't too many people he confided in. By the end of the month, his friends were taking up a collection for a hooker.

And Minerva didn't make it any better. She got pouty when he told her he couldn't be there for Halloween. It was her parents' wedding anniversary and she and her brother Jordan had planned a big party to celebrate. She couldn't visit him because she needed to be with her parents. She was disappointed because she wanted him to be at the party so she could show him off.

Charlie and Minerva were able to speak to each other on a device that Mike had invented, which he called a "speak-o-scope". Basically it was a clear orb about the size of tennis ball. One person would speak into the ball and it would fill up with smoke and then disappear when the speaker was finished. The smoke was magicked into another orb belonging to another person, where it delivered the message. Charlie thought it was extremely clever and got one for him and Minerva. The messages took a while to reappear in the other orb. It was faster than an owl, but it was not instantaneous over long distances. The device was something like a walkie-talkie and somewhat limited. Charlie talked to his brother George, who was a gadget and marketing genius, about the device, and George was in the process of buying the idea from Mike. Mike stood to make a lot of money.

Halloween night came and Charlie was in the foulest of moods. No one wanted to talk to him or be around him because he snapped at everyone. Genevieve, who had no idea what was going on, made the mistake of crossing his path and ended up in tears. Ricardo told her not to take it personally, but Genevieve, who was normally very strong, stayed away from Charlie for the rest of the night.

Right before midnight, another van pulled off the side of the road close to where a nest of verdemalos usually spent their days. The van's head lamps were turned off and it was completely dark. Charlie and the rest watched them from the air, just at tree top level. A man got out from the back of the van and looked around. He had a pair of binoculars and began looking at the area where the verdemalo nest was. The binoculars were funny looking; they fit on his head, instead of being hand carried. Charlie had no idea why anyone would have binoculars in the middle of the night in the middle of the desert when there was nothing but star light. Soon after the first man got out of the van, another man followed. He too was wearing binoculars on his head. The first man pointed to something below in the small canyon and the other man nodded. Their movements seemed to be exaggerated, almost like they were underwater divers, and could only communicate with hand signals.

The first man turned around. Very quickly, Charlie performed a non-verbal disillusioning spell over himself, Genevieve, and Ricardo. All of a sudden, Charlie felt like cold water was being slowly poured over him, and the three of them started to blend in with the night sky. Charlie put his finger to his lips and motioned Genevieve closer. He leaned into her and whispered for her to fly back to the security office and bring back help. "This may be the dragon hunters," he said so low that she could barely hear him. He was praying that the men below wouldn't hear him. Genevieve nodded in acknowledgment and few toward headquarters.

Ricardo and Charlie flew slightly closer to the van, both drawing their wands. There was no indication that either of the men was armed, but he had no idea who or what was inside the van. It looked to Charlie like the first man was looking for something—Charlie reasoned that he was the dragon spotter. He seemed to know that there were dragons down there. He must be a wizard, thought Charlie. He couldn't recognize him because of the binoculars over most of his face, and he was too far away to get a good look at him.

Ricardo flew next to Charlie. Using hand signals, he indicated he wanted to fly higher so they could talk and still keep an eye on the van. Charlie nodded and they flew straight up about 100 yards.

Very quietly, the two put their heads together. "I think we should stupefy them now," Ricardo said, barely audible. "And maybe a, I don't know, paralyzing curse?"

Charlie nodded. "But why are they out here in such a protected area? Do you think they didn't know anyone would be out here?"

Ricardo shrugged. "I have no idea. But you're right, if these are the ones responsible for killing the two dragons, surely they would know about the security. No one was able to detect them before. Why now? Genevieve?" he said suddenly. "Do you think she's in on it?"

"If she is, then we just sent her off to warn them. Oh shit," Charlie sighed. He looked around, but there was no way he could see her with a disillusionment spell over her. He didn't want to believe she would do anything to harm any of the dragons, but anything was possible. Maybe she had been approached and told to stay clear of a certain area. She hadn't tried to re-direct Charlie or Ricardo.

"She did seem rather edgy tonight," Charlie said.

"Because you nearly bit her head off," Ricardo pointed out. "You were acting like a real asshole."

"I was?" Charlie asked. "When did I yell at her? Was that why she was crying?"

"Yeah, Charlie. You scared the shit out of her. You've been so cranky lately. You need to get laid," he said shaking his head.

"Well, I _know_ that, I didn't think I was acting differently. Hmm, sorry." He said, distractedly.

Ricardo looked at him incredulously and nodded. "Seriously."

Suddenly, from below, another door opened from the back of the van and two more people emerged and joined the others. One of the men started shouting at the first man and waving his arms. He was pointing to the van. "We can see the van," he was saying. "It isn't cloaked."

"What?" the first man shouted. He pulled something from his waistband. It was a wand.

"It's a little late for that now, idiot." The other man said. "We have to hurry."

Charlie signaled Ricardo. "Now!"

The two of them flew in, wands pointed. "_Stupefy!" _They shouted together and all four men were knocked backwards and fell down hard. Before the wanded man could react, Charlie pointed his wand at him, "_Expelliamous!"_ And the wizard's wand flew out of his hand.

Charlie and Ricardo landed and quickly jumped off their brooms. They did a body binding curse and had them paralyzed. Cautiously, they opened up the back of the van. Only the driver was inside. Ricardo motioned for him to get out of the van.

"Nice and easy," Ricardo said, aiming his wand at the man's head.

"_Lumos,"_ Charlie said and when the tip of his wand erupted in a ball of light, the two men wearing the binoculars shouted in surprise. Charlie removed the device from one of the men. They weren't ordinary binoculars. They were night vision glasses and the light from the wand created enough light to be painful.

This is really cool, Charlie thought, distracted.

Ricardo was binding the driver. "Uh, Charlie," he said. "I could use some help here."

"Oh sorry, but you really should see this." He walked over to the first man and took a deep breath. He wasn't sure he wanted to know who it was. A wizard had betrayed them.

He pulled the binoculars from his head and threw them down. It was Geoff Morris, the intern. Charlie looked at him and shook his head sadly. Neither Charlie nor Ricardo recognized the other men. They were muggles.

Inside the van was a lot of equipment, including a video camera, more night vision devices and two high caliber rifles and enough ammunition to fight a small war. Charlie and Ricardo lined the five men next to the van. The men looked frightened but they couldn't move so there was no possibility of them escaping. Charlie and Ricardo waited.

Either Genevieve had gone to get help or she was long gone. Charlie discussed sending a patronus if no one came within the next thirty minutes. But fifteen minutes later, the sky was filled with wizards, including the head of security. They swooped down, assessed the situation and took Geoff and the rest of the muggles and the van away.

They were asked not to contaminate the "crime scene." Olivia walked up to Charlie.

"This is great, Charlie! You did it!" Olivia said cheerfully.

Charlie nodded. "Purely by accident. We stumbled on it. I guess Geoff forgot to use a disillusioning charm. Pretty stupid on his part."

"Maybe. Maybe he just wanted to get caught." Olivia said and shrugged. "They'll find out."

"What's going to happen to the muggles?" Ricardo asked.

Again Olivia shrugged. "No idea. But I'd hate to be them."

"Yeah," said Charlie. "Me too."

Charlie, Ricardo and Genevieve walked away from the area, mounted their brooms, and continued their patrol. No one said anything for the longest time.

"Thanks for your help, Genevieve," Charlie said, finally.

He looked at her and she was crying. "I can't believe Geoff would do this," she said. "I can't believe a wizard would do this."

Ricardo and Charlie nodded in agreement.

By the time the three were replaced by the day shift and they returned to the compound, the place was abuzz with the news that the dragon killers had been caught. They also found out that Geoff had implicated another wizard from the infirmary, Shawn Miles, another newcomer to the preserve. Geoff confessed after two hard hours of interrogation. He thought he could make some gold. He'd never hurt a healthy dragon, he told them. That's how he and Shawn had come up with the idea of using sick dragons.

The next day the preserve held a meeting and told everyone that the culprits had been found. The schedules would be changed and while there would be continued vigilance; their routine would go back as before. Charlie, Ricardo, and Genevieve were given credit for the capture and everyone cheered. Charlie refused to take credit. If Geoff hadn't been in such a hurry and such an idiot, they wouldn't have seen anything and they'd still be out there, killing dragons.

The capture made the front page of the _American Daily Prophet. _There were calls from the world press for interviews and stories about how Geoff had schemed and plotted and arranged for hunting expeditions. More editorials were written about the need to better educate young wizards on traditions and morals.

As a reward, Charlie, Ricardo and Genevieve were given a week off with pay (even though Charlie didn't collect a salary, all his work was purely voluntary—he took advantage of their generosity ). Charlie spent the week in Ontario making up with Minerva.

By the time Charlie got back to work, he was in a _very_ good mood.

**A/N: This is my last Charlie Weasley story for a while. I hope you have enjoyed them as much as I've enjoyed writing them. This has been so much fun. Thanks for your encouragement**.

**Love,**

**Rita  
**


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